


I'll Try

by I_Am_The_Circle



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alfheim, Bonding, F/M, Fluff, M/M, No Plot, Past Child Abuse (mentioned), Pre-Series, Slavery (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 06:25:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11269824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_The_Circle/pseuds/I_Am_The_Circle
Summary: "It's nice to meet you, Inge," I say, and it's the truth. "I'm glad to know someone cared about him when he was a kid."Inge blushes immediately but looks somewhat proud too. "I'm glad he has someone looking after him now." Her voice is soft and musical, and it's calming to hear. "I've been so worried about him ever since he left. Tell me, how did you meet him?"And so, even though it may benefit me more to be sleeping, we begin to tell stories.//Blitz and Hearth have to visit Alfheim, and Blitz gets to bond with Inge.





	I'll Try

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I'm back! Returning with your regular dose of Blitzstone, here I am!
> 
> I just really want Blitz and Inge and Hearth to all be best friends??? So naturally Blitz and Inge need to chat about how much they love Hearth. I also love Hearth.
> 
> Enjoy!

From under my intense sun-netting, I see a huge mansion colored completely in white. Beside me, Hearth is practically shaking, and I set my hand on his shoulder in hopes of comforting him some. It's nighttime, though you wouldn't know it from looking around. Here in Alfheim, the sun always shines. It wouldn't exactly be my ideal vacation destination. As we cross the impeccable yard in bright sunlight, I feel distinctly conspicuous, but Hearth assures that he majority of elves will be asleep. The idea was to sneak in while Hearth's family slept & get out without having to face them.

Squeezing Hearth's shoulder one more time, I follow him to a side door where he knocks quietly. Enough time passes that I begin to wonder if anyone heard, but eventually the door opens a crack and reveals a small blonde girl in serving clothes who looks overjoyed to see Hearth. She almost looks as if she's going to scream or maybe faint, but Hearth puts a finger to his lips, and one doesn't have to know ASL to understand what that means. The girl composes herself and opens the door wider to let us in, giving me a suspicious once-over that I probably deserve, given my heavy-duty anti-sun gear.

She hustles us inside and down a small corridor to what seems to be the servants' quarters, and I notice as she leads us the delicate cow's tail she sports- a hulder spirit. An elaborate set of hallways later, and the huldr girl ushers us into a small bedroom that I presume is her own. Shutting the door carefully, she bids us sit and when we do, she barrels over and tosses her arms around Hearthstone, who seems somewhat surprised, but who returns the hug quite fiercely as well. Throughout the reunion, I awkwardly busy myself with removing my bulky netted pith-helmet. When I'm free of my gear, Hearth and the girl are still hugging, and I look away with a distinct feeling of intrusion.

Eventually, the two break apart and Hearth reaches out to tap my shoulder for attention. I try to ignore it, but I can see the green blush on his face as he introduces the girl.

 _Blitz,_ he signs, using my name sign, _this is I-N-G-E._ He demonstrates her name sign for me, and she waves sheepishly. _Inge was my only friend._ Inge's face when Hearth smiles at her seems so red she might pass out. After telling her my name, his signs falter a moment.

 _Blitz is..._ He signs successfully by pointing at me, before stopping with a confused look on his face. He glances at me as if for some cue of what I was to him exactly. I'm not great under pressure, though, so I just shake my head in response, thinking it at least a better option than blurting "boyfriend?" hopefully. I sense this is not the opportune moment to bring up my confusing feelings towards the elf, especially not with Inge in the room.

After a few more moments of deliberation, Hearth finishes his introduction of me. _Blitz is... My dwarf._ He still looks a little unhappy with the results, but I can't help the rush of hopeful feelings I experience at the thought of being his dwarf. When I reach out to shake hands with Inge, I'm smiling broadly, especially after wondering if my being _his dwarf_ equates to him being _my elf._

After the introductions, Hearth turns to Inge to explain the situation. Unfortunately, he's being rather stingy with explanations lately. Before we left, he'd refused to tell me the whole deal, only signing cryptically _I need to retrieve something. Will tell you later._ I was hoping he would tell Inge the whole plan just so I could visually eavesdrop and figure out exactly what we were doing here, but instead Hearth gives Inge a similarly cryptic answer. _Cannot tell you everything,_ he signs. (I'm glad here that Hearth couldn't hear me snort. Can't tell us _anything_ is more like it.) _We start tomorrow morning before sunrise._ He ends his speech with _Thank you, Inge,_ and then lays down to sleep. We've had a long day.

Once his eyes are closed, there's no chance of him overhearing me, so I start a little reconnaissance mission of my own- Inge. Learning more about her will unlock more puzzle pieces of Hearth's life that he's too damaged to relive.

"Hi there," I start, only to be immediately shot down. Inge presses a finger to her lips like Hearth had earlier and whispers, "We must keep it down. I'm not to have visitors." I nod sagely and wait for her to finish turning off the lights to avoid suspicion. Hearth is sleeping in the bed, so Inge sits in the only chair while I sit on the floor. Making sure to speak quietly, I try again.

"It's nice to meet you, Inge," I say, and it's the truth. "I'm glad to know someone cared about him when he was a kid."

Inge blushes immediately but looks somewhat proud too. "I'm glad he has someone looking after him now." Her voice is soft and musical, and it's calming to hear. "I've been so worried about him ever since he left. Tell me, how did you meet him?"

And so, even though it may benefit me more to be sleeping, we begin to tell stories.

"I found him in the street, walking home one day in Nidavellir." I ask her if she knew how he left, and when she shakes her head I fill her in.

"He tried magic for the first time, and accidentally teleported into my world. But there's no sun in Nidavellir, and he had no energy. He probably would have died in that alley if I hadn't found him... I brought him home to my apartment and scrounged up the necessary parts to build a sunbed like they have in Midgard- a machine that makes sunlight. I put him in it and prayed to Odin it would work, and a few days later, he woke up."

Inge looks mystified. "You created the sun for him? That's _incredible!_ You must be quite the inventor."

"Well, not really, I mean-" I stammer, cheeks feeling hot beneath my short beard. "I'm not really into crafting. It was really a test of my abilities. I... I thought he was going to die. I was terrified, honestly." I look down at my hands, remembering the frozen helpless fear I felt while waiting to see if he would ever wake.

Inge's voice startles me out of my memories. "But you saved him. You have my eternal gratitude. After he disappeared..." She trails off, voice shaking timorously. "After he disappeared, I was so worried. I couldn't focus for weeks. I was constantly being scolded by Master Alderman for not paying attention, because all I could think about was if he was alright, if he had anyone caring for him."

She smiles abruptly, right at me. "Evidently that was you. Thank you for saving him. Thank you for being his friend."

I don't know what to say. This situation is entirely foreign to me. I try to gather myself. "Yeah, well... I only did what my dad would have done. After that, Hearth saved me." I rub my eyes and am completely surprised to find them damp. Inge smiles again, wider.

"He does that, doesn't he? He was my best friend when we were children. He was the only elf I'd ever met to treat me like a person. I always knew he deserved better than this place. I'm glad he got out, and I'm glad he met you, Blitzen."

"Yeah, me too. He's... The best friend I've ever had. I don't exactly get along that well with other dwarves." I'm not sure why I'm telling her this, just that she seems to understand, nodding along as I speak.

The conversation lulls for a moment before Inge speaks again, surprising me. "You love him, too, don't you, Blitzen?" Her voice is calm still, but I'm caught completely off-guard. For a moment I sputter, trying to find a suitable excuse, but Inge's blue eyes watching me in the dark make it impossible to deny.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." I'm not even sure when I realized it. It just kind of swept me off my feet one day, the sudden understanding that I was completely in love with my best friend, the most unbelievable elf- and person- I've ever met. Maybe it happened when he opened his eyes after three days in the sun-bed and tried to run off in terror. Maybe it happened when I spent nights awake poring over ASL books in an attempt to know him better. Maybe it happened slowly, unnoticeably. But it happened.

"Blitzen?" Inge asks.

"Yeah?"

"Take care of him, please." Her voice is soft, her eyes nearly shut.

"I'll try."

**Author's Note:**

> Again,,, don't ask why they're in Alfheim. Who knows?? Not Blitz, not me, not you... Nobody.
> 
> As usual, hit me up on tumblr at girl-of-ink if you've got questions, prompts, or literally anything else for your Local Blitzstone Dealer™
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
